Just a week after Aston Martin released a short teaser video of what will be its most extreme car to date, the track-only Vulcan, the Gaydon-based manufacturer has revealed what it will look like and a few technical details ahead of its international debut at the Geneva Motor Show next month.
The last hypercar to be manufactured by Aston Martin, was the One-77. However, the Vulcan is rumoured to be on another level, as it is described by Aston Martin as ‘the most extreme Aston Martin in our 102-year history’.
Aston Martin plans to go down the same route as the Ferrari FXX K and the McLaren P1 GTR. This means that buyers will receive the absolute best treatment from the company as they will be part of a special programme, developed for customers of the Vulcan.
The bad news? Only 24 of them will be produced!
In the short teaser video released last week, we heard some of what the Vulcan’s engine will sound like, but we’d still like to hear what the normally aspirated 7,0-litre V12, which produces in excess of 600 kW, is like at full trot.
Being a track car, the focus will be obviously more on track times and cornering ability than straight-line speed. This means that the top speed is unlikely to be close to the One-77’s 354 km/h. The Vulcan boasts a carbon fibre monocoque and body by Aston Martin’s engineering partner Multimac, pushrod suspension system, a magnesium torque tube with carbon fibre propeller shaft, and Brembo racing calipers that bite down on the 380 mm front and 360 mm rear carbon ceramic brake discs.
Torque is sent to the rear wheels via an Xtrac six-speed sequential gearbox, while the task of transferring the outputs to tarmac is up to the 345/30 R19-inch Michelin competition rubber fitted to the rear wheels.
“Aston Martin Vulcan is, by its very nature, a rare and thrilling supercar. Designed and engineered to deliver a genuinely bespoke driving experience that draws on our rich heritage, this car tailors its power and handling to both the capabilities of the driver and the characteristics of the track,” says CEO, Dr Andy Palmer.
We’ll see Aston Martine’s new flagship in action for the very first time in a demonstration at this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans in June. Production of the R30 million Vulcan will begin in the fourth quarter of this year. Hopefully one of them will find its way to South Africa.
